The present invention relates to an apparatus for simultaneously terminating a plurality of insulated conductors in the insulation piercing contacts of a multiple contact electrical connector and, more particularly, to a device which can accommodate electrical connectors having various transverse dimensions without the necessity of any adjustment.
With the development of miniaturized electrical and electronic components, suitable connectors having multiple insulation piercing contacts have been developed for use in the electrical, communication, and data handling industries. These advances have spawned development of a number of tools and devices directed to the resulting problem of terminating a plurality of conductors in the multiple contacts of a connector. Some examples of such recent art are: Cable Terminating Machine, U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,289; Wire Insertion Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,270; Apparatus For Terminating Flat Conductor Cable, U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,811; and Field Termination Tool Having Connector Reference Plane Apparatus And Hinged Insertion Arms, U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,392. The last mentioned patent discloses a termination tool designed to force a plurality of insulated conductors into the insulation piercing contacts of multiple contact electrical connectors having different transverse dimensions. It accomplishes this by providing an apparatus having a pair of oppositely disposed rotatable insertion arms which may be operably controlled by manual adjustment means. Accordingly, it is necessary for the operator to manually adjust the tool whenever connectors of different transverse dimensions are to be utilized with this construction.
Another type of termination tool useful for accommodating different transverse dimensions between connectors is disclosed in commonly owned, copending application, Conductor Terminating Apparatus, Ser. No. 735,955, filed Oct. 27, 1976, now abandoned, which utilizes a ratchet. The ratchet has at least two release recesses with one recess signalling movement to the proper position for terminating the compression stroke of a stuffer for a female connector and another recess signalling movement to the proper position for terminating the stroke for a male connector. While this device does accommodate different transverse dimensions between connectors, it nevertheless must be selectively manually operated for each connector.
While prior art termination tools have met with varying degrees of success, there are disadvantages associated with the manufacture and use of most of them which have limited their acceptance. For example, since the insertion tool, itself, usually moves through an arc in effecting the termination of the conductors, it has generally not been possible to achieve precise uniformity of termination force across an entire row of contacts in the connector. Moreover, in a given line of connectors, the dimension between oppositely facing rows of contacts will be less in the female connector than in the corresponding male connector. Thus, the desired parallel relationship of the insertion tools as the rotatable arms reach the terminating position is difficult at best to achieve for both female and male connectors. To overcome this disadvantage, it has been suggested to provide an apparatus wherein the pivot of one of the rotatable arms is movable to accommodate connectors having different transverse dimensions, but this procedure is time consuming and may not be entirely accurate in any event.
A further disadvantage associated with prior art devices is that there has been no truly automatic means for accommodating connectors having different transverse dimensions. This objective has been closely approached in the copending application referenced above although the termination tool there disclosed still requires selective manual operation. While this represents an important advance in the art, the possibility of error on the part of the operator is present since successful operation depends upon the operator to a significant degree meaning that faulty terminations or damaged connectors could result.